2.1.5-Treblemirinlens
Brick!Club 2.1.5 The Quid Obscurum Of Battles I checked translations of the full phrase “Quid obscurum, quid divinum” at it appears in the chapter, which comes out to “what is obscure, what is divine” or “What is obscure is divine.” So I suppose the chapter title could either be read as “The Obscurity Of Battles” or in reference to the full phrase as “The Divine Obscurity Of Battles.” “Everybody knows the first phase of this battle” Well…. I certainly hope to learn more about the full battle this weekend. This does bring up a point that I’ve been pondering. We know that Hugo is writing with the expectation that the reader has a working knowledge of the battle, but is that because he was only writing the audience at the time he was writing or did he believe it was a battle that would be well remembered/taught nearly 200 years afterward, did he not think people would be reading his book so long after its initial publication? I’m sure this has been discussed elsewhere and I just haven’t come across it yet, but I am curious. Either way I keep finding myself questioning why I’d never learned about this battle previously. More great visuals with the puddles and mud of the battlefield. “he desired to wait until the field-batteries could wheel and gallop freely” Again with Napoleon relying too much on his artillery strategy, if this tactic were as predictable as Hugo makes it appear I’m surprised he was as successful as he was in battle so I’m sure there’s more to it. “This raw infantry showed enthusiasm. That displeased Wellington.” This confuses me a bit, the whole passage describes the new soldiers in a positive light right up until the statement about displeasing Wellington. One of the earlier statements is that “their inexperience bore itself boldly” so were they confusing bravery with recklessness? The “obscure interval” is vivid: flashes of visual details all tumbling about and blurring together. “the fronts of the armies undulate” Oh look! It’s the same word that’s been regularly used to describe terrain since we started the Waterloo. (in the Wilbour translation, anyway) “To paint a battle needs those mighty painters who have chaos in their touch.” I can’t think of anything particular to say except that I really like this line! And tomorrow we pick up at 4PM when the battle “assumed precision.” Commentary Doeskin-pantaloons I reckon that Hugo just honestly assumed that everyone would know what happened at Waterloo. It’s something that is such a huge part of - to him - recent history, of the kind of cultural memory and awareness of the people he’s writing for. I just think it wouldn’t cross his mind to explain the details of the battle to us. I’m trying to think of a modern example… Like if someone wrote a book about 9/11, it would be not only assumed that we already knew what the gist was, but it would be down-right awkward if they started explaining to us in detail what the event was, as though we’d never heard of it. And he might have assumed that even 200 years later, it would be a big deal?